Mother knows best: Melania is the 'primary decision maker' on Barron's future and his opinions are 'still being shaped' as youngest Trump, 18, prepares to graduate high school

Melania Trump will direct son Barron's future as he prepares to graduate from high school on Friday, keeping him in her protective sights as he navigates the transition from his teenage years to adulthood.

The former first lady has kept herself and her 18-year-old son in a 'tight bubble' behind the ornate gates of Mar-a-Lago, according to those close to the couple.

And that will continue for the foreseeable future.

'Melania will keep her hand on Barron's future just as much going forward as she has throughout his early and current school years,' a social source told People. 'He is her world. She is proud of him, and she is the primary decision maker on Barron and his future.' 

Melania Trump, seen above with husband Donald Trump and son Barron, will direct her son's future as he prepares to graduate from high school

Melania has already demonstrated her motherly might.

Barron, last week, declined the Florida GOP's  offer to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention this summer where would be able to help nominate father Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee.

His mother's office made the announcement.

'While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,' the Office of Melania Trump told DailyMail.com.

No futher details were given. 

Barron graduates from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach on Friday.

'He is still young and has a lot in front of him,' said the source. 'She wants him to be happy and settled in his future endeavors. She wants him to pursue what he wants to do. He is smart and has his own opinions but they are still being shaped.' 

Little is known about Barron's school life or his post-high school plans.

And that is how Melania prefers it. She is known to be protective of her son, keeping him out of the spotlight even as Donald Trump seeks it. 

Even though the 6ft7in teenager physically favors his father, inside he is his mother's child.

'He's so regal. He's a little Melania,' a source close to the couple told DailyMail.com of Trump's youngest son.

Barron was only 10 when his father was elected president. 

Donald Trump has revealed his youngest son is weighing what college he might attend. But, he noted, the campus protests have been a factor in that decision.

'He's a senior now in high school, and he'll be going to college. And you know, a lot of, a lot of these choices of colleges are changing because you see what's going on in the last month,' Trump told a Philadelphia Radio Station.

Trump has been critical of the pro-Palestine protests that have turned up on college campuses throughout the nation. He told Time magazine he would call out the National Guard on them.

Barron is considering NYU, the Daily Beast reported, but the school has seen its share protesters and arrests by NYPD. 

Donald Trump and many of his children attended Penn State. There have been rumblings Barron could join that tradition. 

The Trump family has made no announcement about where Barron will go.

Melania Trump, as first lady, kept Barron largely out of the spotlight; above then President Donald Trump with his wife and son in August 2020

Barron Trump graduates from high school on Friday

Previously, Barron has been the target of social media trolls.

Former NBC News executive Mike Sington said Barron was 'fair game' turning 18, the birthday that marks adulthood. He later deleted the tweet after facing harsh backlash and criticism online.

The youngest Trump was defended by many of his former first kids, including Chelsea Clinton.

'I think he's a private citizen,' she told ABC's The View. 'I feel so strongly that if you are a private citizen, you have an unimpeachable right to privacy, and I think the media should leave him alone.' 

And, last year, a Chicago woman was arrested for making death threats against Barron.  

But Donald Trump revealed Barron likes politics and enjoys giving his father advice. 

'He's really been a great student. And he does like politics. It's sort of funny,' the former president told 'Kayal and Company' on Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

'He'll tell me sometimes, 'Dad, this is what you have to do,'' he added.

Melania Trump is known to be a protective mother of her son Barron, who was 10 when his dad became president; above she straightens his tie on Inauguration Day

Barron was at his father's 2016 presidential announcement and attended the Republican National Conventions in both 2016 and 2020.

He was not at his father's 2024 announcement at Mar-a-Lago. 

The former president also complimented his 6ft7in son's looks. 

'He's a little on the tall side. I will tell you, he's a tall one, but he is a good-looking guy,' Trump said.

Barron, who turned 18 last month, returned to the spotlight with Donald Trump's hush-money trial when the former president argued he should be allowed a break from trial to attend Barron Trump's May 17 high school graduation. 

Judge Juan Merchan agreed to allow the break in the trial.

But even as public interest in Barron grows, Melania fights for his privacy and to protect her family.

On Mother's Day, Donald Trump had brunch at Mar-a-Lago where he was surrounded by supporters.

But there was no sign of Melania nor Barron in the many videos and photos posted to social media on that day from the private club in Palm Beach.

It was the former first lady's first Mother's Day without her own mother Amalija Knavs, who died in January.

She is still in mourning.